Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Narrow escape for two persons as car goes up in flames

Photo:S. Gopakumar

GUTTED CAR: Fire and Rescue Service personnel douse a car with water after it caught fire near the PMG junction in the city on Saturday. —

Thiruvananthapuram: An LPG-fuelled car was reduced to a blazing wreck after it caught fire before the University Students Centre near the PMG junction here on Saturday noon.

The Maruti Omni was almost gutted before the Fire and Rescue Services managed to bring the blaze under control. The two occupants of the vehicle jumped out to safety in time.

Traffic along the busy road came to a standstill as police cordoned off the stretch. By the time a fire tender rushed to the spot, flames from the car were licking a nearby tree and a thick plume of smoke was rising up.

Firemen battled the blaze for almost 20 minutes. The vehicle was doused in water to prevent the LPG tank from heating up and exploding. Fire service officials said the blaze could have been sparked off by a leak in the tank located at the rear of the vehicle or the line feeding the engine.

The owner of the car, Justin, and his friend Anup, both from Chalakuzhy near Medical College, said they had heard a popping sound from behind.

Fire service personnel later said the LPG tank installed in the vehicle was of the refillable kind, considered safer than the cooking gas cylinders that are preferred as after-market fitment.

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